The WiMAX Forum defines specifications for network support of the IEEE 802.16e based radio interface. As of the date of filing this application, the current releases of these specifications are described in the Stage 2 [WMF-T32-005-R010v04_Network-Stage2] and Stage 3 [WMF-T33-004-R010v04_Network-Stage3] documents published by the WiMAX Forum.
To provide communications security in a WiMAX wireless system, a security association is maintained between the mobile terminal and the serving network. This security association is created with the assistance of the subscriber's home network during initial subscription authentication of the user terminal entering the network, and subsequently can be refreshed during re-authentication events. Optimal allocation of system resources during such re-authentication events constitutes an on-going issue.